No matter what business you’re in, chances are there are other businesses out there that offer the same product or service. The existence of competitors is very common in the business world. The question is, how do you get ahead? Knowing what competitors have to offer is not enough. You need to understand your competitors’ behavior and anticipate their actions in order to be one step ahead. There is no other way to achieve this, other than conducting a business competition analysis.

Apart from the reason that the competitive analysis process helps you determine your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses to spot short- and long-term opportunities and threats, conducting a competitive analysis is very important because it helps you:

• Build an understanding of how the existing market operates and how potential customers judge the competition.
• Get a good idea of ​​what customers really need and how you can sell them to them.
• Develop strategies on how to grow in the current market and expand into new markets.
• Develop a distinct offering that stands out from the crowd with its competitive advantage.

What is competitor analysis?

Competition analysis is strategic research, specifically collecting and analyzing data about competitors’ businesses. Arguably, this is an essential tactic for knowing what competitors are doing. More than that, you can identify what might threaten the progress of your business. 

By conducting competition research, you can also quickly find out trends in the related industry sector. Next, adapt to the strategies or campaigns implemented by competitors, to maintain your position in the market. Therefore, competitor analysis is very crucial for business.

What are the competitor analysis frameworks?

Analyzing business competition isn’t too complicated, but it’s not easy either. You can download templates to conduct competitor analysis as is done in some companies, download links: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1M6qzMAIolWH0PDesEdI-0IOWbFpyjfeHeJEoHOpPU7Y/edit#gid=2099546327

Below are some steps you need to take to research the competition:

Company overview

Your analysis should start by digging up basic information about competitors, things like the year the company was founded, the names of the CEO and other key people, the location of the company’s offices, how many employees work there, etc.

Funding

Knowing when, how much, and from whom your competitors receive funding can also be important, especially if you plan to raise your own capital. This will give you a solid idea of ​​how much money to get.

Product

It’s time to evaluate your competitors’ products or services, the actual things they sell. What technology did they use to build it? What are their core selling points? 

Product Features Product

That elements are considered important by consumers and are used as the basis for making purchasing decisions.

Pricing Assessing

Competitors’ prices is another important step in analyzing, if prices are not available on their website, try contacting their sales team.

Advantages

Research your competitors’ websites to see if they offer anything free with their products. 

Technology

Competitor technology is an important aspect to assess for technology companies. BuiltWith is a great, free tool to find out the technology stacks that competitors are using. Just type in a URL, and you’ll be able to see what technologies the website is running, along with third-party scripts and plugins used, everything from analytics systems, email marketing services, to A/B testing tools and CRM.

Customer & awareness

Your next big step in analyzing the competition is to see what customers are saying about them. In this section, you’ll see each brand’s Voice Share, the sentiment behind their mention, the main topics customers bring up when they talk about your competitors, and more.

Geography

Looking at the geography of your competitors’ mentions will tell which markets they are most focused on and with a bit of luck, find areas that aren’t oversaturated. You’ll find a map of mentions of each brand in the Awario dashboard and reports, along with a breakdown of mentions by language.

Social media platforms

Just like geography, it will give you an idea of ​​where your competitor’s audience is congregating so you can use these findings in your own marketing strategy. Also, if you’re looking at a platform that seems so underused but looks relevant, it might as well be worth checking out. 

Marketing

Media

This section will give you an analysis of where your competitors’ audiences gather and how they plan their marketing strategies to get more reach and engagement.

Also, if you see a platform that seems to be very underused, it’s worth checking out.

Advertising

To get an idea of ​​competitors’ ad strategies, SimilarWeb is a great, free starting point. Enter the competitor’s website URL and navigate to the Search section – this will show whether your competitors are running search ads, and, if they do, what their target keywords are.

Influencers and other partners

You’ll see influencers supporting competitors, publishers they work with, and the media platforms they blog guests on, if any.

Content Marketing

Get to know what kind of content they publish. What types of content are competitors focusing on? Maybe a blog, Youtube, or a podcast. Make sure you also know the frequency of publication of the content and the topics raised.

When competitor content has been identified, you can determine the quality and compare it with your own content. That way, you can find out what opportunities are available to outperform your competitors.

Customer acquisition

Does your competitor have a referral strategy? Do they have an affiliate program? Do they sponsor or exhibit at industry conferences? Do they get customers in other creative ways?

Sales

If applicable, it’s also important to analyze your competitors’ sales strategies. Do they do product demos? What is contacting a representative like? Is there a phone number to call?

Customer Service

Analyzing your competitors’ customer service will help you improve your own customer service. The truth is, in large companies, customer service is often almost non-existent for new businesses in the industry, it’s a great area to take advantage of. If that’s true in your case, be sure to highlight the quality of customer service on your website.

Conclusion

Competitor or competitor analysis is an important practice for both new and existing players. Periodic competitor analysis helps companies keep tabs on their competitors, identify opportunities, and be prepared for upcoming threats.

By knowing the advantages, disadvantages and what competitors have done in the business, you can easily make the best decisions that will take your business in the right direction.

The important thing that you need to pay attention to when making decisions in business is to consider financial statements and the financial health of the business. With factual financial data, of course you can make plans that are more measurable and easy to achieve the desired target.

Also read other articles about Startup, business, innovation, and technology on the Ideanation website www.ideanation.id.